Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-08-21
LION-TAMERS.
sroRIEs OF MIN WHO GO INTO TIE
CAGES.
A Tanner II Very Nervous At Times
Mostly on Account Of
the Fleas.
Paris Letter.l


the Pleas.
Paris Letter.
Another lion-tamer has Just been de-
voured. The event occurred IN the
out-of-the-way town of Bourges, ana,
strange enough, behind closed doors
while the man was putting his animals
through their training. As most read
ers delight in stories OF the KIND,
went down TO Asnieres, near Paris,
where Bidel resides, and interviewed
The great lion-king on the subject.
Bidel has a fine house at Asnleres, IN
the Rue de In Comete, near the Avenue
d'Argentuil. He is now rich man.
The entrance to his place is by a large
monumental gate, with stone plasters
supporting sculptured lions heads on
either side. There is n pretty, we'll
trimmed garden, and beyond 1t the
house, or rather French country
chateau. built III fairly good taste, after
the manner Of what our modern + rench
architects call the style OF Louis Kill.
The owner of this fine property re
ceived me very courteously, as most
Frenchmen know how. l noticed that
the walls Of the room in winch we con
versed were covered all over with
genuine Gobelins tapestry. On peeplng
into the dining | caught sight OF
the dressers and sideboards, which were
loaded with old china and rare pottery.
The tall wood-carved chimney IN the
BACKGROUND had been magniticently
decorated by Rosa Bonheur, the re-
nowned French artist, with representa-
tons of Nero" and "Sultan, Bidefs
pet lions. -,
Bidel is stout, thick-se man, with
dark eve. Jet black hair, and a power.
fuI, sturdy frame. in the autumn OF
last wear he was mangled by Sultan
He has now fairly recovered from the
shock bis nerves sustained on that oc-
casion, but still retains a lively sense
of the danger to which he was exposed (;
so much so, in fact, that he has given
no all idea OF again entering SultAn's
cage, or, indeed, that Of any other OF
the wild beasts which SO to make up
his really fine collection of animals.
81 was born at Rouen in 1Si0," said
the tanner, "and am consequently
forty-seven years of age. My mother
kept strolling menagerie, and we
travelled for many years over France
and Italy; after which we came up to
Paris. / began the training OF animals
in nv youth, and entered a lions cage
for the first time when mere strip.
ling. Soyou see i was born and bred
to the business, and have had opportu-
mites from infancy to study the habits
and tempers of all sorts of wild beasts,
thing seldom afforded to most OF those
who follow my profession.
"Is there any difficulty in finding
men who have not had those advantages
70 perform with lions ?"
"No; some one or other turns mp
occasionally who is able to DO it. But
it is easy for us to see from the style OF
the performance whether a man has
been bred TO it or not.
Flow long does it take before man
and beast are fit to appear In public?
at depends great deal on the man,
and in measure on the animal he has
TO work with. Now. there is Alexiano.
my pupil, who has thoroughly daunted
that almost irreclaimably fierce lion,
Sultan. 10y whom | was nearly torn to
pieces last fall. From the first hour he
entered the cage he got complete con
troll over the brute, and accomplished
in a few days what might have required
as many months IN another. He is
one of the most logged, unfinching
tanners have ever met, all Drawn and
sinew, and rs stout-bearted as an elc-
phant. He was born at Orleans. and
is 10y seven years or so my junior"
Would you, il occasion required,
enter a cage Of strange lions and per
form with them ?"
Certainly l have done so on more
than one OCCASION.
"Have you ever felt nervous ?"
"Why, yes; more especially on &C
count OF the iieas "
"But you must have experienced
some apprehension, surely, when you
were mGuled by Sultan
Had | given way to the slightest
touch Of fear on that occasion | should
not be here to talk the matter over with
you. When man begins to feel
aualmish it is high time he should give
mp lion-taming."
"Were you present when Lucas was
killed ?"
mo i vas not in Paris at the time.
That was under the empire. The acct
dent occurred at the old ilippodrome,
when it stood near the friumph.l arch
end before it was burned down. Lucas,
although a Spaniard, was somewhat
Of tippler. He had the rashness to
enter the lions cage when excited by
drink, and was torn to pieces by an ami
NAL with which he was performing. a
lad Of eighteen venturcd into the in
closure and brought ont his mangled
remains. lie was decorated by the
Emperor, hut went ont OF his MIND
soon afterward from the mental strain
OF the moment"
DO most tanners OF Wild beasts die
a violent death 2
mo. 1t is usually the result Of I'M
prudence. A smart trailer never gives
a chance away. EIe may, of coarse,
get scratched or bitten, but he is rarely
eaten"
Have you known, besides yourself,
any renowned trainers who have made
fortune and retired from business 2"
why, yes; scores. There is Van
Amburgh, and Charles, commonly re-
ported a victim of his art, who died
peacefully of consumption in his bed
snd Henri Martin, who had won re-
nown long before the French historian
of that name had penncd line, and OF
whom ell modern masters in the art Of
tanning wild beasts speak with respect
and veneration, quietly departed this
life few wears ago at the advanced
age of eighty, in his little house at
Overchie, a village near Rotterdam,
where he had lived in retirement for
forty years among his collections of
butterflies and his books on botany
Then you think the death OF this
,,o,, 81 pouroau vsa brOu oht ahout nv